MURDER IN BLUE WORLD (1973)
aka Una Gota de sangre para morir amando
aka A Drop of Blood to Die Loving
aka Clockwork Terror
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: Spanish or English PCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Eloy de la Iglesia
Cast: Sue Lyon, Christopher Mitchum, Jean Sorel
Murder In A Blue World (1973) could easily be dismissed as a knock-off of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange filtered through the transgressive queer eye of Spanish director Eloy de la Iglesia (Cannibal Man), and it is truly that, but it's also quite a bit more. Set in a dystopian near future that favors perfection and productive members of society David (Chris Mitchum, Angel of Death) is a member of a black leather-clad gang with red helmets that routinely maraud the city. At the start of the film de la Iglesias pays a pretty dang direct home to A Clockwork Orange with the whip-wielding gang, who ride around in a yellow dune buggy, breaking into a home and brutalizing and tormenting a family (who are about to watch a TV airing of A Clockwork Orange), then raping the mothers offscreen. Afterward David has an altercation with the gang's leader and is beaten and tossed out of the gang. Later while sitting on the edge of a river he witness a attractive young woman dumping the corpse of a naked man into the water, He follows her home and discovers that she is a killer-nurse named Ana (Sue Lyon, Crash!), whom he begins to blackmail. Ana works for a doctor named Victor (Jean Sorel, Perversion Story), who is running a government sponsored brainwashing clinic meant to reform habitual law breakers through electro-shock therapy... so, you can see why this is often dismissed as ACO knock-off, right?
Anyway, while the Kubrick influence is pretty overt, heck it even stars the striking Susan Lyon who starred in Kubrick's version of Lolita, de la Iglesia infuses the film with thought provoking touches, a homosexual subtext, and a killer-nurse serial killer, plus it's quite stylishly shot to have a cool retro-futuristic sci-fi bent that is more near future dystopian than distant-future utopia. We see Ana dress up in various disguises and wigs to prowl the city for victims, bedding young men, and then while cuddling in post-coital bliss she stabs them in the heart with a scalpel, her reasoning never quite becoming clear, but it's an interesting addition tot he story. Eventually the gang catch-up with David and beat him bloody, he is picked-up by the authorities and after healing he is sent to Victor's clinic for re-programming, where he is intercepted by Ana, with the film coming to a feverish and bloody finale that will have you scratching your head and stroking your chin in pontification of it's merits. It's a interesting watch, it has a dystopian sci-fi look about it that feels a bit on the giallo side, set in a bright future-world that somewhat prefigures the setting of Argento's Tenebrae minus the whodunit element, but also similarly stylishly made with cool minimalist design and decor, and of course the obvious lifts from A Clockwork Orange.
Audio/Video: Murder In A Blue World (1973) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut on a region-free disc from Cauldron Films in 1080p HD widescreen (2.40:1), this is a 2K restoration of the Spanish Producer's cut from the negative, and it looks great. The source shows some minor blemish and scratches, faint vertical lines and white speckling, but is generally in fantastic shape with fine film grain and plenty of fine detail. Colors are robust and depth and clarity are outstanding. Audio comes by way of either Spanish or English PCM 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Both options are clean and well-balanced, sounding appropriately vintage
Extras kick-off with a brand new Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger who does good work talking about the fim's poor reception in Spain were it was labeled A Clockwork Orange knock-off, dubiously dubbed A Clockwork Tangerine by elitist critics at the time. She also digs into the themes and homosexual subtext, noting that at this time no one else in Spain no one was really making genre films, much less a dystopian sci-fi film. It's a solid track that offers a lot to anyone wanting to dig deep inti this flick, and she steadfastly argues that this is much more than the AOC knock-off it's often cited as being.
We also get a 20-min newly edited Archival 2008 International Man of Cinem: interview with Chris Mitchum, the son of screen legend Robert Mitchum, who talks about his rising star after getting cast in Summertime Killer by the producers after his turn in Big Jake alongside John Wayne, and how Wayne's conservative political views not only got the Duke blackballed in Hollywood, but he as well, for co-starring with Wayne, at which point he started working abroad. He also details some if his work in Europe and Asia, including the insane way they shot films in Thailand at that time. He also dishes a bit on his H-Bomb co-star Olivia Hussey and unprofessional behavior under the influence of her manager.
The 12-min Dubbing in a Blue World - Interview with Ben Tatar, features the long time dubbing-director who dubbed over 250 Spanish films from '68-'77 while working for producer Sidney W. Pink. He explains the difference between word-syncing (what he did) and sentence-syncing, the process of adaptation, and how he worked with the dub actors. He also gets into Jackie Gleason derailing his film career. and some of his more notable dubbing gigs, working for the likes of Eloy de la Iglesia, Paul Naschy and others Juan Piquer Simon.
Also included is the alternate UK VHS Cut of the film under the title Clockwork Terror that runs 97-min in standard-def with lossy audio - which will help you appreciate the new 2K restoration. We also get a new 15-min Video essay by Film Scholar Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes that explores the films themes. Disc extras are finished up with a 3-min Image Gallery of poster artworks, home video releases and lobby cards under various titles. The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a two-sided, non-reversible sleeve of artwork featuring the fantastic illustrated original movie poster.
Special Features:
- 2K restoration of the Spanish Producer's cut from the negative
- Brand New Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger
- Newly edited Archival 2008 International Man of Cinema: An Interview with Chris Mitchum (20 min)
- Dubbing in a Blue World: Interview with Ben Tatar (12 min)
- Video Essay by Film Scholar Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes (15 min)
- Clockwork Terror: UK VHS Cut of the film in standard definition (97 min)
- Image Gallery (3 min)
Screenshots from the Cauldron Films Blu-ray:
